Ah I accidentally hit the submit button before finish typing >.<

Using grid isn't always copying, because it's more about "sticking to the measurement concept" thing. Like when drawing a character, you make 'grid' to make sure his/her measurement is matching up with the data in his character's design sheet.

I think both the process and the result are both as important, because they both serve the same purpose, to materialize what the artist want to make according to his view, perspective and inspiration.

I dont think having a grid is cheating xD
sometimes there is a mistake occurs during the process of making a proportion of a character/sketch
grid is a great way to help artist have a vision where to stroke the pencil into the correct place so that the art can satisfy the need of the artist him/herself

i'd never graph anything. in my opinion, as soon as you graph something it becomes too technical, and loses the beauty of actually creating something artistic.

you might as well just trace it, because in the end, the point of either technique is to exactly reproduce something else.

I personally don't like the grid method, but to each his own I guess?

I have no problem with other people using it because it's not me doing it.

And to be honest, I find it more difficult and that it sometimes makes the image look distorted. At least when I use it that is.

I remember that my grade 9/10 art teacher used to force us to use it because she thought you couldn't accurately redraw something without it, which I totally disagree with. It's up to the person and how they draw, and everyone has their own style.

And it's not nessarily cheating per say, it's more like an aid?

I really think that girding is a very helpful technique. It's handy when someone wants to achieve the intense realism found in photorealism.

I wouldn't really call it cheating because there are many ways to make it more unique. Chuck Close for example used grids to make very large pieces. If you really think about it though, the picture he was looking from was probably much smaller and he probably had to "make up" a great deal of what was in the larger boxes. As for myself, instead of gridding one picture, I gridded a photo of myself and a background I wanted to use and just lined up the boxes to fit me in there.

Grids still leave most of the work for the artist. It's quite possible to just use a grid to get the main sketch down and then erase it and work from there. I would suggest it if you are ever working solely from a photograph.

I don't use grids, but that's only because I'm not that hung up on making a drawing perfect. Using a grid to get the basic outlines is not cheating. (: Not even close to tracing. Anyway, after you get the basic lines down, erase the grid. Ask any of the talented realism artists on dA and almost all of them use a grid.

Penny: I think thats pretty interesting actually because on loads of art websites people have constantly critiqued my realism by saying that I need to use a grid, but I just can't. I find that they make my work more of a complete failure and mess but I guess that's just me. As for your thoughts on the grid being cheating, I just think,based on my experience with it, it's merely a technique that some can't do without. I consider tracing copying but apart from that I think anything goes really. By the way sorry that's my reply is so long. You managed to get my brain working this morning. ^^

Hmm..the only thing I don't like is when people copy by looking, tracing paper, or making their art LIKE the other persons.

With me, when I draw, I just..just draw. xD
I don't use grids or anything. >>'
The most I do is draw some lines and circles of where the hips, legs, and arms are gonna be. xD

Faggy: I disagree with your comment about copying through looking because it's only by looking and copying real life objects that you improve, well that's what I find anyway. lol :)

Referencing is definitly not cheating, but in my eyes copying a portrait exactly is kind of..cheating to me haha. Thats only because im used to draw faces off by heart. I use a few lines on the face to keep the proportions straight but i never copy any model faces..only if its an angle ive never done before. I have a pretty good photographic memory so remembering all the muscles in the face and body is pretty easy to me. Some people prefer using the grid, but if your opting to be a comic artist..there is no time to make grids! so it all depends on how you see things and what kind of art you want to make. in art, the only kind of awful cheating is tracing and stealing. Other than that, your pretty free to do what you want.

I agree with you but when I'm drawing a real person I will draw them exactly to a picture untill I know exactly what they look like 360 degrees and can draw them perfectly from memory, otherwise I am considered a copyer in your eyes. lol.

Grids often throw me off. >_< I free-hand mostly. To make sure things are proportionate, sometimes I "hide" part of the picture I am looking off of and pretending it doesn't exist to make the rest pop out more. I have to scale things in my mind.

I just discovered what a 'grid' was not too long ago. x'D Hahaha.

I wouldn't consider it 'cheating' but.. I think there's a limit to how much you should use it. It doesn't pump up your imagination because you're only going by what the grid tells you, and you end up not realizing your mistakes because it's not flawed, whereas.. if you tried it without the grid, you'd end up with a few mistakes because you've never gone outside the grid.

..At least that's what I think? XD I don't use it, so.. I can't say from experience. o 3o

I agree with miss Hon. I grid doesn't help you in your art it limits it.

I think using grids can be a method of cheating...and its also annoying to do. XD If you're going to grid it, why not just trace the picture outright?

That being said, gridding can be useful. The one time I used it was to blow up a picture I had done previously. Its pretty useful for things like that. But as for straight copying a picture, it'd just be easier to trace something. lol

I dont consider it cheating, I do consider it bothersome. But not only that, I believe using a grid can you make you less skilled. I just cant imagine myself constantly looking at the grid just to get my drawing right. No. Visualisation will get my drawing about just as a accurate, and I wont screw up my drawing when theres no grid around. Now thats convenient ;)

If you are working from a photograph/another work, and only have a limited time scale, then I don't see the problem. : )

What I do object to and won't do unless I'm really pressed for time is take a photocopy of a photo, blow it up on a photocopier, graphite the back, and trace it. >___<

Most of the time I won't use either though.

I still haven't actually tried using a grid... I keep thinking a will... but it seems like the romanticism of it all will be lost with such direct method. ^^

Hmmm, well I only use a grid if it's a really important picture that happens to have a photo reference. I usually do this for a "refined" rough sketch. Most of the time the reference pictures are small or tiny and I need to enlarge the picture, and a grid helps keeps things proportioned while enlarging the original to the size I want it to be when I'm done the final project.

Unless I'm using a photo reference as the same size as the original or enlarging it, I don't use a grid. Such as from still life, or from my imagination.
But using a grid or not is entirely up to the person.

I hope what I just said made any sense. If not please say something....I hate it when I try to explain something...and I make no sense to anyone...or myself sadly.

I think it's only cheating if you practically photocopy a picture and color it and say it's yours. No. You can use grids or freehand draw, but as long as you draw and put some real time and effort into it, it's real.